Amazon launches Fire Phone

Amazon launched their first smartphone today, and it looks like a decent offering. The Amazon Fire Phone has a few unique features, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to move people away from Android and iOS over to Amazon.

Probably the most interesting feature of the Fire Phone is Firefly. Firefly is a product recognition app that allows users to find more information on prodcuts. Hit a button on the phone and point it at a product and you can find more information about the product, or buy it on Amazon. Firefly can also listen to music for you and determine what you are listening to. You can get more information on the music, and of course, purchase it on Amazon.

Dynamic Perspective is another feature unique to Fire Phone. Dynamic Perspective provides depth and perspective to views in maps. It also allows you to access menus, or scroll the screen, simply by tilting the phone in a certain way. This interface is unique to Amazon and will surely be adopted by others.

The rest of the Fire Phone offerings are as expected. The hardware is nice, and the processor is fast. If you purchase the Fire Phone you get one year of Amazon Prime included. That's a great deal for Prime users.

The bottom line is Amazon is now in the smartphone business. They have introduced another platform in an arena dominated by Android and iOS. Amazon's goal is to sell more content, and Fire Phone will help them accomplish that goal whether or not they make a huge dent in smartphone market share. If you are in the market for a smartphone you might give the Fire Phone a look. At $200, it's not a bad deal.